I like members...

Hola Familia,

Bueno, I hope you get everything out of your last hours of summer. I guess you still haven’t gone in yet. What did Lia give her talk on?

This week we had a couple of meetings with President Montalti. I got to see the new guide for training a new missionary. The church has a new study plan for the first 12 weeks a missionary is in the field. It goes through the new Preach My Gospel lessons that I’ve never really been able to see. Presidente Montalti has taught them to all the missionaries in leadership, but they have never taught them directly to the other missionaries. I liked how they focus on really teaching the basic and most important parts of the gospel and how we can help them get past the general problems they have with reading, praying, and going to church. President gave a conference on how our attitude is a reflection of our faith. I need to make sure Elder Gruñón does not come and visit Ecuador.

This week we worked with a young woman named Faviola. She is the sister of a recent convert. She had a great time at church and is already friends with all the girls her age. So far the only potential problem is her cranky serrana mother. When we went by her house to pick her up for church, she was all ready to go but her mom did not want to let her leave. We tried persuading her, but eventually gave up. We passed by the house of another member family, Familia de la Torre, and told them what happened. The sister said, "Her mom won’t let her go. Just leave this to me." Fifteen minutes later we were pleased to see Faviola arriving to the chapel with Fma. de la Torre. I like members.

Anyway, I hope to hear from you tomorrow at district meeting. I am about 4 weeks behind. Elder Liberato told me that there are only two missionaries working in the office right now. He does have a camera but is looking for a charger. I have heard that there are some good people here who fix cameras. I may try and find someone to look at mine and see if it is salvageable. I also have damaged a few other expensive possessions. My shoes are going to have a blow on the heel any day now. Should I just buy some Ecuadorian shoes? I may be able to get a good pair at the mall. My shoe size is always the largest they carry in any shoe store.

My good pair of glasses broke. That is old news, but I had them kind of fixed and now they are really broken. If I get someone to try and solder the frame, will that damage the lenses? The nose piece is what is broken, right next to the lens. The only problem with the Zach pants is that they need to be dry cleaned. I’ve already had a few pairs of pants damaged by mamitas so I am afraid to use Zach’s a lot. They fit well though. I actually have inherited another 3 pairs of pants from missionaries who have left their clothes behind, so I don’t need any more. I’m good in the clothes department til the end of the mission, I think. Just socks, but I can get those easy here.

Well, Talk to you later
Elder Ludlam